Intermarché's performance manager: "Our season has already been successful"

Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux are currently one of the lowest teams in the World Tour in terms of budget, however they have widely surpassed the expectations this spring with a set of results that equal many of the top teams. With an eye now on the second part of the season, the spirits are very high within the team.

Team performance manager Aike Visbeek has told Wielerflits about how Quinten Hermans has worked through the final weeks of preparation towards Liège-Bastogne-Liège. “It has always been the goal to have Quinten perform in the Flèche Wallonne and Liège-Bastogne-Liège. But when he became ill in the Tour of the Basque Country, we had the feeling that the day was short. However, during the Paris-Roubaix weekend, he had recovered and we could see from his data that he was able to train really hard. This allowed him to prepare well, although that second place came as a surprise to us. It's definitely worth it and it certainly wasn't stolen, but it was at the higher end of our expectations," he said.

The Belgian, one of the world's top cyclocross riders, had given in the past very promising signs of his talent, in the past seasons with the Telent Fidea Lions, and the Intermarché team ever since it's Pro Continental days. Hermans was not the only breakthrough however, as Biniam Girmay broke through in the cobbled classics with a top performance at E3 Saxo Bank Classic, and a charismatic win at Gent-Wevelgem: "The much work that has been done behind the scenes has come together with the good atmosphere and the good balance in the team. We made the most of the outsider role we had. I am very proud of that."

Visbeek added: "You also see that the new riders who have joined this winter are performing better than their previous years. We are doing well, but I am especially proud of what we have achieved. You work hard for that and then it is nice that there is a reward. That's nice." With an incredible performance at Paris-Roubaix, where Tom Devriendt and Adrien Petit finishes surprise fourth and sixth places, it was a very well rounded-out spring campaign.

What changed in the team? Visbeek believes that "we have tackled the preparations, training and feedings even more intensively than in 2021... More meetings, better training during camps, preparation started earlier. We linked that to plans that fit in well with this, such as nutrition and competition planning. We have completely optimized that whole device."

He's also keen that the young talents in the team are profiting from the experience of it's older riders: "You see that if you put a lot of experience around those kinds of talents, those guys take steps faster," he added. This comes in a particularly important time, where the Belgian team was caught in the battle for the maintenance at World Tour level. However, with this recent string of performances, they are in a more comfortable position.

"Our year can't get any better now, this spring campaign is definitely a great success. In fact, our season has already been successful... That's a nice thought to race and work with at the end of April," he concluded.